Southern Water is to be the first water company to appear before MPs on the EFRA Committee, who will hold the first evidence session of their reforming the water sector inquiry, at 10am on Tuesday 21 January.
The Committee launched its inquiry in December, ahead of Ofwat’s price review announcement, which determined that customer bills will increase by 36% on average over the next five years.
In the session on Tuesday, MPs will take evidence from two panels of witnesses. The first panel, at 10am, will see the Committee question the CEOs of Water UK and the Consumer Council for Water, along with the Director of Policy at Citizens Advice.
The Committee will probe the impact of Ofwat’s price review on consumers, the water sector and will also examine cases of poor customer service such as water supply outages.
In the second panel, at 11am, MPs will question the CEO and CFO of Southern Water.
Southern received the highest bill rise settlement of all companies included in the price review, but concerns have been raised about its corporate structure and supply outages and sewage spills.
In December, a large-scale supply outage in the south of England left 58,000 properties without water, following a fault at a Southern Water supply works. The water company has since announced that compensation will be credited automatically to customers’ accounts and that this would be done by Tuesday 21 January.
In their session on Tuesday, MPs will investigate how Southern Water will use its increased revenues to address the problems facing the company and assess the impact that recent legislative changes on dividends, bonuses and performance issues will have on its operations.
Witnesses on 21 January
From 10am:
- David Henderson, CEO, Water UK
- Dr Mike Keil, CEO, Consumer Council for Water
- Tom MacInnes, Director of Policy, Citizens Advice
At around 11am:
- Lawrence Gosden, CEO, Southern Water
- Stuart Ledger, CFO, Southern Water
